In The Palm of Her Hand
by Smiley67
Summary: Set some years after graduation. Can Andrea save Brandon from his own mind? Is it really his mind or is someone else involved in his mental state?
1. Chapter 1

In The Palm of Her Hand

By Smiley

Rated: R

Copyright 2007

Summary: Some years after high school graduation, can Andrea save Brandon from his own mind? Is it really his own mind or does someone have a hand in his troubles?

A/N Kelly was never one of my favorite characters so she may be totally nuts in this story or I may reconsider and she may end up ok.

This fic is flavored with an out there plot.

Chapter One - Jumbled

Brandon Walsh's mind drifted back in time to the morning of the senior prom. He sat alone in his bedroom reflecting on a few things. He was thinking of the upcoming graduation and how much his life was about to change. Would Kelly stick it out with Dylan or chase after him again? Would Steve and he maintain their camaraderie or grow apart? More importantly to Brandon, would Andrea finally give up on their missed chances and find a lover who wasn't afraid of ruining their friendship? A sick feeling lurched through Brandon's entire body at that last thought. There were so many times that he and Andrea could have advanced forward with their relationship but something always got in the way. Whether it was their own fears or events that others had planned, something would stop things from moving beyond the point of no return. Either the timing was off due to one of them dating someone, or the opportunity presented itself at a time when one of them was worried about the friendship being ruined.

Brandon shook his head out of thought and hoped that Andrea would always be in his life in some way or other. He treasured the strong bond they shared but also ached deep within because he knew that he had probably turned away from his soul mate one too many times. "You're such a fool Walsh." Brandon said aloud and then jerked himself around to face the open door.

"Why are you a fool this time Brandon?" Andrea asked with a smile on her face. "I knocked for 5 minutes and got a little worried when I saw through the window that you weren't moving."

"Why aren't you getting ready for the prom chief?" Brandon asked with a valiant effort to regain his composure and avoid Andrea's question.

"Jordan is sick," Andrea replied dully. "So I guess I'm not going either unless you want to go with me." She smiled at her best friend who had been the object of her affection since he made an effort to befriend her with no matter that her social status was not up there with his.

Brandon's hands shook, as he lay motionless in a bed. His mind shifted from the morning of the prom to the image of him kicking his dresser, which caused a resounding thud to blast in the otherwise quiet room. He stood up from his bed and tried to clear his fogged mind. This was the morning before he and Kelly's wedding was to take place and so why was he thinking of Andrea Zuckerman now? He indeed had the chance to further things with her on the night of the prom but allowed those fears of ruining a friendship to stop him. That was his last chance because Andrea had moved on, had a beautiful daughter and got married. "Damn it Walsh!" He shouted and raced down the stairs to answer the door.

"Hey there Brandon," came the voice of Andrea Zuckerman from the other side of the door that he had just opened.

He looked at the woman who stood before him and couldn't help but smirk. The one thing that remained a constant throughout the years was Andrea's ability to show up when he was thinking of her. "Hey there chief." Brandon said and pulled her into a tense hug. "Wow, I haven't seen you since you left for Yale after graduation."

Andrea returned the hug, which was far too comfortable and long for a friendship hug. "I ran into Brenda in New York two weeks ago and she asked if I was coming to the wedding. I of course had no idea of what she was talking about so she told me that Kelly was supposed to send out invitations to everyone. She said that David had informed Kelly that he knew where I worked because I did a spread on him in the Times when he was doing a talent scout last year. Apparently she forgot to send one there."

Brandon wondered why David didn't tell him that he had met up with Andrea a year ago. He and Kelly weren't fully together at that time which would have made the coast clear for him to find Andrea and attempt to correct his bad choices in the past. He had learned from Donna that Andrea was having marital problems but didn't press the question of how she knew that information. "You've been gone far too long chief," he mumbled in a low voice as he still held her in a firm hug.

Andrea looked up into Brandon's eyes and he knew that she was wondering if her coming to this wedding was a mistake. He knew that she saw pure sadness in his eyes but quickly decided that she was deluding herself to believe that it was sadness as a way of justifying what she wanted to do at that second. She wanted nothing more then to kiss the love of her life and find out if both time and separation had removed their fear of losing a friend obstacle.

Brandon suddenly jerked his body violently and awoke in a hospital room. He knew that he was dreaming all of those things about Andrea but couldn't totally focus his mind. He wasn't sure what day it was or the year. He didn't know if he married Kelly Taylor or not but the one thing he did know was that Andrea Zuckerman still held his soul in the palm of her hand.

As his eyes darted from one corner of the room to the other, he saw Brenda wiping her sleepy eyes and stretching into the land of the awake. "You're awake," Brenda said with a relieved look on her face. "What happened Brandon?" Brenda asked with a hint of sadness in her voice. She had sat in his room for the last three hours with no real sign that he was going to recover but his constant mumblings of Andrea's name and his nickname for her, Chief.

He gave his sister a blank look and she shrugged her shoulders. "Did I get married?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"I didn't attend the wedding," Brenda retorted incredulously. She and Kelly never were able to pick up their friendship on any level after the Dylan McKay triangle and she had no plans on watching the woman sink her claws into her brother. "You phoned me yesterday morning and said that you were coming here. We made plans to meet for lunch today."

As the door to his room opened, he recognized the figure that had walked in straight away and tried to get up excitedly. "Chief!" He said in a louder but still hoarse voice.

"He's really confused," Brenda said in a whispered voice as she sipped her tea.

"Hey there," Andrea said and walked over to Brandon. She looked at the machines and IV drip and then took his hands in hers. "You gave us a good scare Brandon. I'm not a chief yet, just doing my internship here at the hospital."

"Where am I?" Brandon asked with an overwhelming feeling of confusion and fear washing over him.

"You're in New York Brandon," Andrea said softly as she stroked his forehead with her index finger.

"You're a doctor? Why aren't you a writer?" Brandon asked as he looked pleadingly into Andrea's eyes for an answer as to what was going on.

A brief moment of far off pain creased Andrea's features but she recovered quickly. After she had realized that Brandon Walsh would never see her as anything but a friend, she left Beverly Hills and changed careers when she entered Yale. Anything to do with writing would have reminded her too much of Brandon and that wasn't good. She needed to forget him and put Beverly Hills far behind her. "I wanted to make a difference by doing something more than writing." Andrea said and removed her hand from Brandon's face.

"I thought that you told David you were getting a divorce and Donna told me. I thought that you did an article on David's talent show for the New York Times and came to my and Kelly's wedding?" Brandon's face looked frantic and his breathing grew short as he reached for Andrea's hand.

Andrea looked at Brenda who was fighting back tears. She had spoke to Brenda about Brandon's past condition briefly but didn't realize how bad it was. Brenda had told her that Brandon had been plagued with bouts of delusional states for the last two years and that his girlfriend, Kelly, tried everything she could to help him. Brenda hadn't any idea as to what his delusions pertained to but both women were now getting a good idea. "Is Kelly here yet?" Andrea asked as she allowed Brandon to grasp her hand. She wanted to comfort him and saw that that simple gesture seemed to work as he had calmed down tremendously.

"She went to the hotel to get some sleep." Brenda said and stood up with a sour look on her face. "I'll go get her." She took one last sad look at her brother and walked out of the room.

"Andrea," Brandon said in a frail voice that made her want to scoop him up in her arms and take all his anguish away. "Something is wrong with me and I don't know what. It's like I'm fighting myself in this dream world and can't stay in reality long enough to know what's really going on. I mean, the only things I can remember about reality are when I'm with Kelly and then my head gets all jumbled up and you always come to save me." Tears flooded down the man's face and he began to tremble as he spoke.

It was clear to Andrea that Brandon was having an infrequent moment of sanity as she leaned down and hugged him tightly yet carefully. "I'm really here this time Brandon." She said softly and kissed his cheek. "I am divorced and I did run into David in New York. I saw a spot on the TV about his talent search show and caught up with him eight months ago. He told me that you had been ill and Kelly was trying to get you well and that you were going to get married to her. He also told me that Steve was fighting her for power of attorney over you while you recovered. Unfortunately, Steve was injured in a car accident and had to give up his quest."

"Why would Steve have to do something like that?" Brandon asked with confusion thick in his voice.

"I don't know but David denied telling me that when I spoke to him late last night to let him know that you were brought here."

"Why was I brought here?" Brandon said with fear in his voice.

Andrea looked carefully at the man that she once knew as a well of strength, love and integrity. Gone were all those things and replacing them was a shell of a man who was filled with confusion and fear. "You and Kelly were in a car accident. She said that you had come to New York for your honeymoon and the car spun out of control. She has minor scrapes but is all right. Frankly, I didn't think you were going to make it." Andrea said and leaned down closer to Brandon. She wanted nothing more then to kiss him and fix his world but knew that it wasn't the proper time to do that.

Brandon heard voices in the hall and knew that one of them belonged to Kelly. His face paled and he began to tremble. "This is all a dream again! You're going to go away when she comes in here! Don't leave me again Andrea Please!" He shouted in a frantic tone of voice.

"I swear Brandon that I'm really here." Andrea said softly and watched the monitors begin to race. She knew that she had to settle him down fast and there was only one way that she could think of. She lifted his hand to her lips and gently kissed it as a tear trickled down his cheek.

As Andrea held Brandon's hand tightly, Kelly entered the room being trailed by Brenda. "Hello dr. Zuckerman," Kelly said in a bitter voice. "Do you want me to tell you what's wrong with Brandon?"

Andrea did not remove her gaze from Brandon as she continued to hold his hand with the knowledge that she couldn't let go if she tried. He had a death grip on her hand and the look in his eyes was wildly desperate, as if he believed she were the only one who could truly save him. "Tell us Kelly!" Brenda shouted angrily because watching her brother cling to Andrea's hand as if it was his lifeline was ripping her apart worse then any of her splits with Dylan ever did.

"It's you Andrea, you are the problem!" Kelly shouted with venom in her voice as she crossed the room to Brandon's bedside.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N thanks for the reviews. There might be some B&D in this story for those who asked but I am uncertain how much of their own plotline they will get.

Chapter Two

As Brandon still held Andrea's hand, Brenda looked at Kelly with fury etched on her features. "Why is it that you are trying to blame this on someone who hasn't been around in a few years Kelly?" Brenda spat and turned her attention totally to Kelly.

"After his gambling problem resurfaced," Kelly began with tears flowing down her face. "He drifted off into this world where Andrea was there to help him through it because he wouldn't let anyone else. Then every time he had a problem, that's who he ran to in order to not have to deal with the problem. He did this because Andrea was not really there to help him. So this is what it turned him into."

Andrea finally turned her gaze from Brandon and burst into laughter. "That's the most insane excuse that I have ever been blessed to witness." Andrea looked down at Brandon for some sign as to his take on what Kelly said but got none.

"Kelly that's crazy," Brenda agreed with Andrea and had no problem vocalizing it.

"I think I should run a full chemical testing series on him and get the prior records from whatever doctor she took him to." Andrea said to Brenda, as Brandon's eyes closed finally.

"You're forgetting one thing," Kelly moved to release Brandon's hand from Andrea's. "I am his wife and I make the decisions as to who does what. I think you have been involved in his brain far to long and will not allow you to be the doctor who cares for him."

"That's what I thought," Andrea said dryly. "The first point I will make is this, you married him while he was under great mental duress. If we connect the dots, and I'm sure that your education level is high enough to do that, we could stretch it into the notion that you coerced him into this marriage by taking advantage of his mental state."

Kelly shot daggers from her eyes at Andrea. "You have just a few minutes left with my husband intern Zuckerman!" She sat the small jug of water back on the table and walked out of the room in a huff.

"What do you need me to do?" Brenda said quickly. She wasn't certain what Andrea was thinking was going on but was willing to follow her blindly. She knew that when it came to her brother, Andrea would act in his best interest and nobody else's. After all, she had always done that in their high school days, even when it was perceived as medalling.

Andrea knew that she should get the proper papers filed and take this matter to the courts but feared that she didn't have time. She was truly in a crossroads between her ethics and helping Brandon. More often times then not, her ethics would win out but not today. "You have to contact Dylan Brenda. He will help me get Brandon out of here and ask questions later. Steve tried to get power of attorney over Brandon but was in a car accident. Brandon told me that the only time he knows reality is when he's with Kelly and then something happens that gets his mind all jumbled. I don't want to accuse anyone but I need to find out if he has been under the influence of mind altering drugs, and possibly hallucinogenic drugs for so long that he can't escape the created reality."

Brenda could not believe her ears, would Kelly really go that far and if so, what pushed her into taking such drastic measures against Brandon? She also knew that contacting Dylan would be a huge crossroad for her; she had avoided the mere subject of him for quite some time and didn't want to go there again. "I'll do it," she said somberly having made up her mind that she would do whatever it took to help her brother. "I'll get on it right now," she stood, kissed Brandon's cheek and left the room hastily.

As Brenda left, Andrea placed her hand on Brandon's chest. "You can open those big eyes now Brandon. I just hope that I'm right and not Kelly. I would hate to think that I'm indirectly the cause of this predicament that you're in."

Brandon's eyes opened and he smiled. "You're always right chief." He said in a small voice that oozed with trust in the woman but fear as to what was wrong with him. He placed his hand atop the hand that was on his chest. "You know that belongs to you Chief."

All those old feelings threatened to push their way back into the forefront of Andrea's heart but she vowed that she could not go there. She couldn't do it for her own sanity and because the timing, per usual, was way off. "Yes that's my hand Brandon." She smiled at him and handed him the water jug. "Is your head hurting?"

Brandon knew that she was avoiding the true meaning of his statement, as one of them always did to the other in times like this. "Right here," he pointed to the right side and above his temple. "My head hurts and then I get all screwed up. It's like Kelly and I will be, you know, doing things and happy and then," he visibly shuddered as he tried to continue to speak. "Then I get in a panic and want you to come save me."

"Are there any times when your mind is totally clear as it was with me a few minutes ago?" Andrea asked curiously.

"I can't remember chief," Brandon said in a low voice as a tear trickled freely down his face. "I'll just drink this water and maybe I can sleep it off for now."

Andrea wiped the tear from his face with the index finger of her free hand. Once again, she wanted to hold him, kiss him and tell him many things but knew that she couldn't do that right now. She didn't know if she could ever do that due to all the missed opportunities between the two. She didn't know if she could allow herself to open up those old wounds of rejection again. "Brandon, I swear that I will help you out of this." She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it gently.

- - - - - -

Brenda sat in her car repeatedly glancing at the small piece of paper Andrea had given her. The paper contained a simple number on it, so simple yet so complicated. All she had to do was call and tell Dylan that Andrea needed his help but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. The pain that he and Kelly had caused her should have been washed away a long time ago but it wasn't. She should have been over the hurt, lost love and lies ages ago, but she wasn't. "Damn you Kelly Taylor!" She said aloud and slammed her hand down on the steering wheel hard.

She took out her cell-phone and read the number on the paper once more. She could keep the conversation short and to the point, it would be easy. Apparently, Dylan had stayed in touch with Andrea over the years, who would have thought those two would keep in contact? "Hello?" Dylan's voice rang through Brenda's ears like a thunderous boom and she froze. "Hello?" The voice said more insistently.

Brenda steeled herself to respond in a masked tone. "Dylan?"

Dylan's features faltered briefly but he was quick to regain his composure. He never expected to hear from Brenda Walsh again and there she was on the other end of the phone. "Bren?"

"Listen, I don't have time to talk but Andrea gave me your number. She said she needs your help pronto with Brandon."

"Tell her that I'll stop by her place at noon," Dylan said briskly. He and Andrea had grown rather close over the last couple of years. He was doing journalism under an assumed name as well as poetry. She was a great listener and advice giver. He was also there for her during the tumultuous ending of her long-time relationship and marriage to Jesse. Though nothing had ever romantically happened between the two, they both frequently enjoyed each other's companionship.

"All right," Brenda said and quickly hung up the phone. Speaking to Dylan again, as brief as the conversation was, gave Brenda a serious wake up call. Like her brother, she loved someone that seemed to be unattainable. She wondered how differently their lives would have gone if they had stuck with the person that they knew they were supposed to be with. Kelly and Steve, that was laughable now because Steve seemed to have found a great love in Janice. Donna and David, they were still together though she got the feeling it wasn't all roses at this point. She and Dylan, they were each other's first love but he and Kelly ruined it all. Brandon and Andrea, they were truly the perfect match for each other.

As Brenda headed back to the hospital, she knew that her main goal had to be her brother's well being. She couldn't allow her personal feelings for others to distract her from helping Brandon get the help that he needed. If that help included getting him away from Kelly, Brenda supposed that she would have her revenge in an odd sort of way. If that help included him staying with Kelly, Brenda knew that she would suck it up and find a way to be cordial because that was who she was.

As Brenda shook her head out of all the sorted thoughts and stepped back into the hospital, she saw Andrea getting a cup of coffee. "Hey, I take it Kelly is back in there." Brenda said in a dull tone of voice.

"Yeah," Andrea held out the half-empty jug of water. "He was really alert for a few minutes and then got this headache. He drank the water and was happy to see Kelly when she came in. I am convinced that someone has done something in a big way to him Brenda." Andrea's face looked worried and tired as she spoke.

"Dylan will be at your place around noon." Brenda said in an effort to mask how hard it was to talk with him from Andrea.

"I'm sorry that I had to get you to do that Brenda." Andrea said and handed her a cup of coffee. "I just didn't have the time to do everything myself."

"It's all right," Brenda said with a smile. She wished that she had known Andrea wasn't far from where she lived. The two of them could have hung out and became better friends. She, like most others, regarded Andrea as a friend in high school but they didn't go out of their way to do things with the over-achieving editor.

"We'll get him well Brenda." Andrea said, gave Brenda a firm hug and walked out of the hospital.


End file.
